Commentary
Legislature, City Council offer low-paying positions
By Bob Dye
Kailua-based writer and historian
Politics in Hawai'i has become a profession. But on payday at the Legislature it's treated as an avocation. A legislator makes $32,000 a year. A Honolulu City Council member gets $43,350.
Advertiser library photo • Feb. 21, 2001
It is surprising that respectable candidates can be found to compete for legislative offices. Who in their right mind would spend time and money campaigning for a full-time job at part-time pay?
Republican and Democratic leaders of the state House are intent on not losing party seats in the next election. Clockwise from top: Galen Fox, minority leader; Charles Djou; Chris Halford, minority policy leader; Scott Saiki, a majority whip; Marilyn Lee, majority floor leader; Marcus Oshiro, majority leader.
Nor is there much prestige to be gained by running for legislative office. Not even for mayor or governor. The opportunity to vote is spurned by too many Hawai'i citizens to give politicians any societal luster. In the 2000 election, the percentage of people of voting age in Hawai'i who actually voted was the lowest in the nation
So how can the energy and idealism of politically gifted citizens be tempted into the political process?
"Participating in politics is more important since Sept. 11," says Democratic Party head Lorraine Akiba. "People's perception of politics has changed. They realize that now more than ever we need fair and compassionate leadership."
GOP executive Micah Kane says there are folks in Hawai'i who would rather make history than money.
Kane is upbeat about his party's chances of fielding enough strong candidates to take control of the state House of Representatives in 2002. Republicans will fight to hold on to the seats they have, he says, find a replacement for Bob McDermott, who is running for Congress (he thinks they've found a good one), and pick up at least seven more seats to win control of the House. To get those seven seats, Kane says, they will have to target 14 to16 seats held by Democrats.
House Minority Leader Galen Fox says it's "extremely early" to predict, but chances of attaining that goal look promising. "The trendline is clear. In '94, we went from four to seven seats. In '96, from seven to 12. In '98, we held at 12. In 2000, from 12 to 19, the largest gain since statehood."
House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro, after the close of the next Legislature, will devote his energy to stop the GOP surge for control of the House. Republicans again will be the manini minority they once were, if he has his way.
Akiba says that her party will contest for every seat. She mentions that Ikaika Anderson, 23, son of Whitney (the former GOP state senator) and nephew of D.G. "Andy" Anderson (a gubernatorial contender), has formed an exploratory committee. If he can raise $20,000, he'll run for the Legislature as a Democrat.
Oshiro is an important member of the Democratic Party recruitment team. "A great leader! Marcus is a salt-of-the-earth person," Akiba says. "He appreciates the Democratic legacy. He hasn't forgotten our roots, our humble beginnings. He touches the younger generation."
Like many of his peers, Oshiro works at his legislative job full-time. He didn't intend to do that when first elected. An attorney in a one-man office in Wahiawa, he soon found it virtually impossible to do both jobs. So, being Marcus, he chose to do what he liked best, and that is using his political position for community building.
"I like connecting people," he says with enthusiasm. He's running for re-election.
A Democrat's Democrat, Oshiro wants his party to return to its glory days. Bone-honest and a good soldier, he supports the governor in the Legislature but admits his party lacks the direction and strong leadership of the past.
I suggest there has been an erosion over the years of the part played by representatives in decision-making and policy planning, that separation of powers has been too successful.
The gist of his response was recognition of the need to improve the relationship between the governor and the Legislature, to make it more organic; that the Legislature need not be an object of reform but its agent; that there is no place for cynicism in the process; that the churches, social agencies, academic institutions, and the business community must join the movement to make Hawai'i economically and socially self-operating. With Evan Dobelle as president of UH, it appears there can be an enduring marriage between government and academia, he says.
The fact that Oshiro scaled back his lifestyle and devoted himself with selfless commitment to public affairs is significant. The Democratic Party needs to be reinvested with his idealism, I think.
Fox also works hard at his legislative job, and it, too, is full-time. He admits the pay is low: "I am lucky that my kids are through college." But he says pay for legislators should not be raised until there's more job creation and improved education.
Akiba says the low pay of legislators must be addressed, but she doesn't think the time is propitious. Nevertheless, next year, the governor is required to name a legislative salary commission. I hope it recommends an increase. The matter of compensation will be debated in the 2003 legislative session. I hope they come up with something that at least approaches fairness.
The race of the month is for lieutenant governor (a good-paying job) in the GOP primary. TV newsman Dalton Tanonaka has announced, Judge Duke Aiona has formed an exploratory committee, and state Sen. Bob Hogue's poll says he has a good shot. Now add nonpartisan City Councilman John DeSoto, only recently touted as a Democratic LG candidate, to the possible mix and you have a GOP primary that will give voters more choices than they've had in years. All of which should help Linda Lingle in her continuing quest for the governorship.
The profession of politics in Hawai'i must be redefined and its scope widened.
When that happens, the results will be happy ones with legislators like Oshiro and Fox serving us.
